Metropolis was a magical place that was once a hub of imagination and creativity, ultimately giving birth to this news organization. Our previous revisits explored the early history and detailed streets of Metropolis, but this chapter will celebrate the kids who played there, giving the city its heart and soul.
When I decided to revisit Metropolis, I sent a message to the children who called the city their playground. Each has grown, with a majority reaching their teen years or even becoming young adults. It’s been surreal to hear what they remember.
Read the previous chapters here
Miley
Miley was the oldest. For a solid three years, she was the only kid playing in the city before her brother Blake came along, so the entire layout leading up to that point was decided upon because of her requests.
Because of this, I appointed her “Mayor” of the city and tried to build whatever she wanted, while also populating the town with toys from my childhood and character figurines she wanted. It became a city of ultimate crossovers, with a populace of Disney Princesses, Justin Bieber, Marvel heroes, and DC characters, to name only a few.
“I think every adventure we had,” Miley told me. “Whether we had to solve mysteries, scavenge for things, or catch criminals. I think those things were my favorite.”
The adventures Miley referred to were plotted years in advance, with the occasional spin-off, complete with special effects. That’s a story for chapter five.
Miley was the unofficial leader of the pack. As the oldest, she was the one the other kids turned to to learn more about the city, its secrets, and the history she was a part of.
Blake
Blake started toddling into the city before he was two, and he was clumsy. So, I expanded roads and secured infrastructure to ensure the city was safe and sturdy for him.
As he grew older, he started playing with cars, and the city’s roads needed to be widened and made more realistic, complete with bus stops, solar-powered street lights, planters, and sidewalks.
When asked what his favorite memory was, Blake told me he couldn’t pin just one moment down. But he did say that one made him laugh: “Stealing from the Pepsi Building.”
Blake referred to Pepsi Plaza, the city’s first apartment tower (you can read more about it in chapter two). His sister, Miley, owned the building, and characters like Lois Lane and Mystery Inc. lived there. As a joke, he’d steal their furniture, food, money, and cars. Blake’s addition to the city also led to the city rules.
Brealyn
Brealyn was the city’s resident animal lover. She loved horses the most, resulting in multiple stables being built throughout Metropolis, and she’s why I renamed Metropolis Mountain Brealyn Mountain.
Brealyn loved moving her dolls from one place to another and spending her city money to shop for her characters. When I asked her to recall her memories of the city, I expected her to share experiences I remembered her having. However, she surprised me by bringing up something I had forgotten entirely.
“I loved sleeping in the tower watching movies, having dance parties in the ballroom, and I remember you locked us in the tower with a smoke machine, and we couldn’t get out, and I felt like I was going to die,” Brealyn joked.
To be fair, I did put the fog machine in the tower, but Miley was the one to lock the door. I have proof! Either way, her memory made me laugh.
The tower she’s referring to is the 25-foot-tall Metropolis Tower that housed a ballroom, bunkbeds, and a rooftop observation deck. You can learn more about it in chapter two.
Maddy
Maddy is Brealyn’s younger sister and was and is very independent. She would saunter off into the city on her own to do her own thing and only participated in the planned adventures when they involved all the other kids.
I loved that she did that. I built this city for the kids to enjoy, and I would always find Maddy somewhere doing just that. When I asked her what she remembers the best, she told me about our annual New Year’s Eve Metropolis bash.
Every December 31, the kids on this list were invited to the farm to celebrate the holiday with my grandparents and me. Madyy said she loved that.
We made homemade pizza, held dance parties, drank sparkling cider, watched the ball drop in New York City, and celebrated our own way in Planet Square in Metropolis, where I would load all the kids into a sled and pull them out to the city for fireworks and confetti.
Alexis
Alexis was an infrequent visitor to the city but was a big part of its history. Every once in a while, I’d be called to babysit, so I’d bring Alexis, my cousin’s kid, to Metropolis for the day.
She loved it so much that I decided to build her her own house. She would spend much time with Brealyn, moving houses and shopping for items.
We spent a lot of time together, and my little cousin eventually began calling me Uncle Zack. When I asked her what her favorite memory was, she told me she couldn’t decide, saying every moment in Metropolis was fun.
Jace
Jace was the son of my late (but so great) cousin Moriah. Moriah loved the family farm and would visit the property whenever possible, especially in the fall months. She’d hit the trails, go hunting, or spend time with our grandparents. When she visited, she’d always bring Jace, Metropolis’s biggest fan.
Jace was and is the most creative and imaginative kid to call Metropolis home. He was a little destructive, but that helped me make Metropolis all the more stronger. I asked his grandmother, Julie, to reach out to Jace since I don’t see him anymore, and ask what his favorite memory of the city is.
“My favorite memory is when I was about six or seven years old,” Jace told his grandma. “There was a Batman action figure in one of the miniature buildings, and I always used to think that Batman could fly. It was funny because Zack and I would argue about whether Batman could fly. I remember trying to convince Zack that Batman could fly by flying the Batman action figure.”
These six kids were woven into the very fabric of Metropolis. Their actions, reactions, and creations helped motivate me to make Metropolis a reality. It was a city filled with adventure and justice, all brought to truth in the mini pages of a miniature Daily Planet newspaper.
Although the city was small, it mirrored a larger one located a few hundred miles to the south, on the banks of the Mississippi River. This was a city I had dreamed of living in for so long that the essence of Metropolis became subconsciously identical to that of the City of Lakes — Minneapolis.
Next chapter: A city of stories
In the penultimate revisit to Metropolis, we’ll explore its many stories. From monster attacks to alien invasions, we’ll examine the five-year arc I plotted out to make Metropolis a memorable place for all, and how those stories gave way to our media organization.
